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Social Networks

Social Networks

Sites like Facebook and Twitter provide users with a place to share personal information with friends family and the public — an activity that's proven to be hugely compelling to Internet users. In response to the demand technology is evolving to encourage the disclosure of information that was formerly discreet (like location) and to enable the sharing of information even when not sitting in front of a traditional computer (like from mobile phones).

But it doesn't take much forethought to realize that there are countless privacy pitfalls in a world where a near-endless stream of personal bits is indiscriminately posted indefinitely stored and quietly collected and analyzed by marketers, identity thieves, and professional government snoops in America and abroad. The public controversies that have erupted to date — Facebook's drastic terms of service changes and Google Buzz's forced sharing of email contacts — are only the first snares in a rapidly growing thicket of social networking privacy issues.

Here are some of the ways EFF is working to protect your privacy as the use of social networks grows:

EFF has gone toe-to-toe with the government to uncover hidden details about how they use social networking sites for investigations data collection and surveillance.

“You would have to prove that Twitter took a certain step–or failed to take a step–that caused the Paris attack to happen,” Aaron Mackey, a legal fellow at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told FRANCE 24.
The causality argument may be even harder to win than the argument against the CDA...

A lawyer working for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil rights group that focuses on technology-related matters, said Wednesday that social media companies likely have a strong legal shield in cases like those filed by Fields’ and Gonzalez’s family members.
Federal law generally holds that social media companies and other...

The EU generally does not protect free speech the same way the U.S. does, but advocates of Internet freedom say the deal could lead to abuse in other countries.
Danny O'Brien, international director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said he was “deeply disappointed” with the agreement, which mends some of...

Danny O'Brien, International Director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation International Director, told the Daily Dot, "EFF is deeply disappointed in the crafting of this code of practice. With it, the EU companies have rubber stamped the widespread removal of allegedly illegal content, based only on flagging by third parties....

Some U.S. privacy rights groups expressed concern that the agreement sets a dangerous precedent because the removals will be based on flagging by third parties.
“It does not address that different speech is deemed illegal in different jurisdictions, nor how such 'voluntary agreements' between the private sector and state might...